Delicious right after uncorking, this showed its charms in no time at all. While the nose shows wisps of decayed flowers and brown spice, the palate shows rust, cinnamon and red fruit, lively and open on the palate. There's plenty of vibrant acidity and red fruit that is very much alive. The cork suggests this wine may have been reconditioned. Vibrant red fruit, rust, spice, cinnamon. Lovely acidity. Loses focus as it airs, this shows best early on.

Interesting nose showing red fruit and spice, but the palate is the more expressive part of this wine: Lovely red fruit, sweet with red candy, a good band of spice running through it, and firm structure.
With air time, the wine softens, the red fruit turns darker, with some light spice, watermelon candy, and a good spicy finish. I'm wondering how much of this spice is oak derived, but in the end, that question isn't really important. Could use, perhaps, a bit more firmness, and less candy to the fruit, but definitely a fun, tasty wine. Thanks, Michel.

The nose shows much more menthol than past bottles. Palate shows the expected blue fruit, some herbs, and is rather soft. Not that it's advanced or tertiary or especially complex, but it is more worn, less energetic and softer. With air time, the nose is much lessened in impact, showing overt herbal notes but less menthol. Palate shows dark fruits, more resolved, older, gentler Syrah. This bottle is in line with past tastings over the past few years, this is on its downward curve in terms of power.

Great nose, dark and herbal. The palate is more lively and darker than the '99 Rostaing La Landonne that preceded it. Silky mouthfeel. Cool Syrah blue/black fruit, but lacking in the high notes that I was expecting, especially at this age, showing more dark bass than high treble. With more time in the glass, Dave and Michel cite some green-ness on the palate, but I'm not sure about that. Still high acidity, dark and brooding palate, but definitely softer around the edges than past bottles, and at 11 years, no longer the stacked, tight wine it was in the past.

I'm nursing a glass on the second night, and no degradation, just blue fruit, violets, bacon and iron. It's much darker than, e.g., the red-fruited '99 Rostaing La Landonne. The acidity is still vibrant on this second night, the dark fruited palate is juicy and tart at the same time. Still plenty of acidic structure, while the tannins are softening. I'm not sure whether to drink this sooner or later. The acidic backbone is still very much alive, but the palate is definitely less intense and shows less tannic structure and less thrust than bottles in the past.

The first thing I notice is the silky mouthfeel, then the great, vibrant acidity, then the cool blue fruits. Very classy. Increasingly reductive with air. The finish is particularly impressive, almost like pixie stix dust - dry, sweet granules of flavor. With time, the nose shows high notes of red fruit, Syrah rubber and perfume. The palate remains very well delineated, the fruit taking on more red fruit tones, although the palate loses some structure with time and turns a bit soft, but oh so pretty. Keeps its focus much better than the '99 Gallet on the table, which is much more tired. This shows more red fruit, more length, better high notes than the '99 Ogier on the table also. Much more regal, prettier, more lady like to the dark, brutish Ogier. Thanks, James.

Cousin Dave: "so much bacon fat, they put the whole pig in here." There is a bit of buttery softness to the palate, soft, oaky. With time, the red fruit emerges, but lacks definition.

Wow. Red fruit, cinnamon. Tannic, but soft tannins, high acidity. Really quite good and regal. Amazing purity and richness, while no heaviness at all. This wine just unfolds over your tongue with red fruit and pretty perfume, feminine, but with that underlying young Barolo firmness hiding behind the satin curtains while the young red fruit steals the show . . . for now. This hasn't really developed much in the two years since my last bottle (I brought to Gary Z.'s in Sag Harbor); the wine is just as pure and captivating, although maybe, just maybe, a touch more user-friendly this time. With time, Cousin Dave says "blueberry ink", while to me, this is showing more red fruited, with mincemeat pie and very herbal. I'm sipping a final glass the next night, with no degradation, just the same red fruit purity. Better tonight, more focused. This is the kind of wine I am proud to cellar. Thanks to Bruce for sacrificing one of his.

Not a distinctly oaky nose, but dark, with mellow brown spice, smoke, and a touch of alcohol. Palate shows dark cherry, wood smoke, some oak, brown spice, and a long finish softening around the edges. The more this airs, the more I think that the palate is very round and lacks edge. The finish is interesting and long, but the palate is not very detailed. Not sure whether this is just a '98 that is now showing really soft, or whether this wine was smothered with oak. Thanks, Fernando.

Lots of new wood still on the surface. Good raw materials, but needs some time to integrate. I'm drinking some on the second night, and it's still showing new wood, along with cool lemon sorbet and butter cream. There is some acidic tension in here, particularly on the finish, that does an admirable job standing up to the softened, more contoured palate. Try again in a couple of years, hopefully the oak will have integrated.